rBMP 13" Early 2015 Battery Life Qs.

Hi; I have got rMBP 13 inch Early 2015 base model. Now my understanding is/was that the battery life on new machines is suppose to be around 10 hours, at the least. However, my machine consumes around average 10% per 30 minutes, lasting more or less just 5 hours. This is happening even when usage is at the very minimum (i.e. Just using Apple's PAGES).

Presently I use my rBMP usually for typing only, followed by some browsing, and occasionally for watching movies. Only 3rd party apps on my rMBP are Skype & VLC. No add-ons for Safari either; though, I did update it to 8.0.6 and it keeps showing up in the list of apps that may be using significant energy now and than. But the issue has been there even before Safari's latest update.

Anyway, anyone who has bought similar machine recently (& those who are knowledgable) can kindly inform me:

1. How much avg. battery life they get?, especially during minimum usage?

2. What amount of 'time-remaining' does their battery icon shows at full 100% charge?

I didn't notice if I had better battery life before I updated the OS to 10.10.3. So, I can't even say if its the result of Yosemite's update.

I did reset the PRAM and recently the SMC as well. Prior to the reset my battery showed more or less 5 or 6 hours remaining. After the reset the battery time remaining fluctuates between 7 to 9 hours. The first % (or the 100th %) also seems stable to usage, lasting almost 10 minutes or so. However, counting down from 99th % the battery goes down quickly to 4 to 5 hours both in terms of time-remaining stated by the rMBP & by actual usage.

Hi; I have got rMBP 13 inch Early 2015 base model. Now my understanding is/was that the battery life on new machines is suppose to be around 10 hours, at the least. However, my machine consumes around average 10% per 30 minutes, lasting more or less just 5 hours. This is happening even when usage is at the very minimum (i.e. Just using Apple's PAGES).

Presently I use my rBMP usually for typing only, followed by some browsing, and occasionally for watching movies. Only 3rd party apps on my rMBP are Skype & VLC. No add-ons for Safari either; though, I did update it to 8.0.6 and it keeps showing up in the list of apps that may be using significant energy now and than. But the issue has been there even before Safari's latest update.

Anyway, anyone who has bought similar machine recently (& those who are knowledgable) can kindly inform me:

1. How much avg. battery life they get?, especially during minimum usage?

2. What amount of 'time-remaining' does their battery icon shows at full 100% charge?

I didn't notice if I had better battery life before I updated the OS to 10.10.3. So, I can't even say if its the result of Yosemite's update.

I did reset the PRAM and recently the SMC as well. Prior to the reset my battery showed more or less 5 or 6 hours remaining. After the reset the battery time remaining fluctuates between 7 to 9 hours. The first % (or the 100th %) also seems stable to usage, lasting almost 10 minutes or so. However, counting down from 99th % the battery goes down quickly to 4 to 5 hours both in terms of time-remaining stated by the rMBP & by actual usage.

Click to expand...

If you are using at full brightness it'll hammer the battery, if you are using chrome it will hammer the battery. Apples Battery tests use specific conditions (75% brightness and running safari to name a couple) and all the reviews suggest that they live up to these numbers or better.

Take a look here try all the tricks if it's still a bit rubbish get apple to atke a look.

If you are using at full brightness it'll hammer the battery, if you are using chrome it will hammer the battery. Apples Battery tests use specific conditions (75% brightness and running safari to name a couple) and all the reviews suggest that they live up to these numbers or better.

Take a look here try all the tricks if it's still a bit rubbish get apple to atke a look.

Battery life is highly dependent on usage. If you've got your brightness up, or there are background processes running, your battery life can be reduced.

Click to expand...

Yes, I keep brightness at full, though I have reduced it now.

No background processes that I can see in terms of CPU usage. Though Safari, Activity Monitor (ironically) and WindowServer keep fluctuating between very low and high on energy impact. On CPU usage side their 'CPU Time' seems to be more than other applications, but I have no idea whether its good or bad. My technical understandings of OS X a quite minimum, even after 3 years of usage.

Just download and install coconutbattery and compare your design capacity charge with the maximum charge (after charging fully). If the max charge is within a few percentage points of design capacity, you can rule out a hardware problem.

Just download and install coconutbattery and compare your design capacity charge with the maximum charge (after charging fully). If the max charge is within a few percentage points of design capacity, you can rule out a hardware problem.

Click to expand...

Will do that if brightness thing doesn't resolve the issue. Right now it seems to be working, but fingers crossed.

Btw, my battery status says the battery is Normal.

------------

I have also removed some default icons from the dock that I was not using, in the hope that it will stabilise the WindowServer.

My wife plays a game on her macbook pro, eat up battery like anything ..moment she exits it, battery takes a while to readjust and come back to normal, its not right away.

I believe its normal for battery charge remaining to fluctuate.

Brightness at about 70 percent should get you about 10-12 hours of surfing net, word and music. Youtubing and apps like Adobe Lightroom eat through battery life more aggresively like games.

Cheers!

Click to expand...

Fortunately I am not playing games on my machine (not yet at least). The best I am doing at the moment is mostly typing on 'Pages' with usually Safari running. Battery lasting about 4 to 5 hours. [Though I remember my old 15inch MBP used to burn up when I used to play any game on it. Plus after Yosemite update its battery time dropped significantly to 3 to 2 hours].

Playing movies (on VLC) does drain a lot of battery for me though. I lost more or less 10%-15% watching a 40 minutes video last night (But I guess this is normal?).

Reducing brightness does seems to be having some effect on prolonging the battery time though. I started rMBP with time remaining around 4:30, after a while it adjusted itself to 5:40, & now it projects 6:20 at 64% charge.

It all depends on what you are doing. I am getting something between 6 and 9 hours with my newly purchased rMBP early 2015 (screen brightness usually around 50%). I don't care about which browser I'm using or which app. I'm working and that includes a lot of different apps and things. Pages (and the other former iWork apps) are not programmed very efficiently. They take up lots of RAM and CPU. Believe it or not, Word is better when it comes to CPU usage. I'm also using the Thunderbolt to Ethernet adapter which utilises some battery. So, don't worry about battery drain. Just use your rMBP as you normally would and determine the hours you can work with it.

Pages (and the other former iWork apps) are not programmed very efficiently. They take up lots of RAM and CPU. Believe it or not, Word is better when it comes to CPU usage.

Click to expand...

Interstingly - or not - I am actually not an iWorks person. I am MS Office person, in particular the Word and Powerpoint. Unfortunately MicroSoft is having its capitalist fits now days and website doesn't seem to be giving me access to download Office 2011.

Quote

So, don't worry about battery drain. Just use your rMBP as you normally would and determine the hours you can work with it.

Click to expand...

If you have new machine you have to worry

On the serious note battery is worrisome when I am mobile. I need to have have as much energy as possible.

Reducing brightness does seems to be having some effect on prolonging the battery time though. I started rMBP with time remaining around 4:30, after a while it adjusted itself to 5:40, & now it projects 6:20 at 64% charge.

Click to expand...

You are doing great mate ... 6.3 hours at 64% gives 9.8 hours at 100% which is perfectly normal .... relax and enjoy your great purchase ...she's a beauty !!!

You are doing great mate ... 6.3 hours at 64% gives 9.8 hours at 100% which is perfectly normal .... relax and enjoy your great purchase ...she's a beauty !!!

Cheers!

Click to expand...

Yes it seems to be quite stable. Battery discharge has slowed down as well. Except that now I get something like 20 hours remaining time at 100% charge. Wish it were true I believe with 70% brightness u can take battery to 9 hours with minimum usage. That's good enough for me.

MacRumors attracts a broad audience
of both consumers and professionals interested in
the latest technologies and products. We also boast an active community focused on
purchasing decisions and technical aspects of the iPhone, iPod, iPad, and Mac platforms.